The next installment of the TL series, Angel and co go to LA . "The mangement aren't happy Angel, you've changed things, the rules of the game are no longer the same... but don't take my word for it, ask the powers that be as well."

The
journey even if it was done at night time was still long and tedious,
it hadn't helped that Cordellia Chase had had caffeine before
they'd left, the reason she'd stated, was that she really hadn't
wanted to be asleep in the back of a small car with two vampires in
the front. She didn't have the need to pee; no it was more a
mixture of nerves and excitement.

"Remind
me again why I'm going with you?"

Spike
who was sitting in the front on the right hand side of Angel turned
and looked at her, he had the window open and the small trail of
smoke from his cigarette was blowing out into the cold dark night.
Spike looked at her for a moment, his eyes raking over her head and
then lowering down her body, all the way down to her long legs. She
grimaced as she thought of the nasty things he was probably thinking
of doing to her, she just hoped that it didn't include eating her…

"Because
your daddies broke."

Cordellia
cringed at the memory, she'd shied away from Xander and his
constant questioning of her fathers motives and had ignored his
offerings of help and now she'd paid the price, however, she had
refused to stoop so low as to ask him for a job and had eventually
gone out and got one on her own. She hadn't been proud of it, not
one little bit.

"Thanks
for reminding me."

Spike
shrugged his shoulders, looked her up and down and turned back to the
front window of the car. He inhaled and let the smoke fall out of
his nostrils. Cordellia sighed and wrapped the jacket tighter around
her as she worried about her family.

They
finally arrived at the prearranged destination, an old decrepit
hotel, one since left too abandonment, and one that Xander had, using
a means of which she didn't know, nor care to know, had purchased
specifically for Angel. A gift he'd called it.

Angel
breathed in when he saw the front entrance of the old hotel that
looked in desperate need of fixing. A pity it had been a great place
once.

"What
is this place?"

Angel
grinned and looked at Spike, who was pulling another cigarette out of
its package. Spike placed it in his mouth, flicked open the small
silver lighter and lit it. The soft glow from the tip of the cig
lightening briefly.

"Hyperion
hotel, I stayed in it briefly during the 50's."

"Good
times those were." Spike said wistfully.

Angel
nodded in agreement, "Wasn't a pleasant time for me, the people
staying there were affected by a paranoid demon, I tried to help them
and got hanged in the process."

"Nice."
Spike turned and saw that Cordellia was standing in between them, he
grunted at the cheerleaders comment.

"The
hotel has a Thesulac demon." Angel stated.

Spike
grunted again and took the fag away from his mouth, before eyeing the
place up and down. "They're pretty dangerous mate, how'd you
find that out?"

"Xander
told me."

"Ah."

"Xander
tells you everything doesn't he?"

Angel
had stopped listening as the memories started floating in. He walked
forward, up to the doors and pushed them open, letting the scent of
the place fill his nostrils.

… … … … … … … … … …
… … …

"It's
been a good 70 plus years and still your back for more!" The
hooded creature that had appeared at the top of the stairs flashed
its teeth at him, "And look you brought me desert!"

Angel
moved quickly, running up the stairs in a blur that Corde had only
seen Xander and Spike able to match. The creature was corporeal, and
thus vulnerable. Angel moved quickly, pulling out a sword that
neither of them knew he had, and with a guttural growl, let rip,
slashing at the monster.

The
creature didn't know what hit it, dead centre in the middle of its
stomach. The creature screamed loudly, a scream that tore through
the very fabric of the building. Suddenly the room was filled with
silence. Angel dropped the sword and it hit the ground with a
metallic 'clang.'

He
sagged and leaned against the rail, lifted his nose up and sniffed.
He could still smell her scent in the hotel. No wonder the demon had
been staying here. Angel entered the room where the woman was
crouching on the floor; she looked up dozily and smiled sadly.
"Judy."

"I
don't hear them anymore. - Are they gone?"

Angel
walked and stood in front of her and looked down, his large shadow
blanketing her. "Yeah."

He
got down on one knee in front of her and slowly reached for her hand.
Judy smiled at him: "It's you."

"Yeah,
Judy. It's me." It was there, a smile, a small one that
managed to creep its way up the vampires face.

Judy
reached up and gently stroked his face, "You look the
same."

"I'm not."

A single tear rolled
down her aged face, "They killed you - because of me. I
killed you."

The
vampire felt a pang in his dead heart of hearts and shivered. "No.
No. No."

"He
kept them from the door. He told me I'd be safe. - Am I
safe?"

Angel
finally sat down next to her and pulled her to him "You're
safe."

"Can
I go out now?" Judy asked in barely a whisper.

"Yeah. You can go out."

Judy
gave him a big smile and started to get up from her chair.
Angel helped her up. "Let me help you."

"I
just - I need to take a little rest first. Just a little rest."

"Easy."
He knew she wouldn't last much longer, he could feel it in the air,
Judy was dying, after all this time alone with the paranoia demon.

He
gently lowered her to the bed, tears streamed down from her face.

Judy
held on to his hands, "I'm so sorry I killed you. Can
you forgive me?"

Angel
looked down at her and nodded silently, leaned in close to her ears
and whispered a heart felt 'yes'. She shivered, smiled and
started to close her eyes.

"I'm
just going to rest. Just for a minute - and then - I'm going to
go out." Judy closes her eyes and died.

They
went outside and dug a hole, it wasn't the first time they'd done
it either. Spike and Angel sitting in a graveyard. The two took
turns, using their superior speed and strength to dig the whole until
it was six feet deep and reasonable enough for the body to fit in.
This time however was different from the others.

This
time they were digging a hole for a friend, who had at last found
what they had been seeking all their lives.

Redemption.

… … … … … … … … … …
… … …

Cordellia
had changed, all of them had changed, except, with her it was
obvious. She puttered around the hotel doing various jobs here and
there. And through it all Angel watched her. She had gone out and
gotten a headstone for the grave, and even put some flowers down on
it. She cleaned up the grass so that it was visible.

She
was obviously upset by what had happened to her father but he knew as
well as she that Xander's lawyers were already on the case. His
lips quirked upwards at that thought.

She
caught sight of it and smiled prettily.

"That's
something I'd like to see more often." He arched a questioning
eyebrow, "Smiling, it makes your face look so much more handsome."

She
blushed, mumbled something about getting coffee and walked off.
Suddenly Angel had something of an epiphany, he blinked and stood
upright. Had that been part of Xander's plan? To send her here
with him, because she loved him?

He
shook it off, 'nah couldn't be.'

He
grinned, and took a hesitant step towards the door, Spike was already
on a mission to collect the other ring that would give him the same
immunity to the sunlight and stakes. Years of painful memories were
burned into his mind, fear of the sun and what it could do to him, he
grimaced when he stepped out and raised his hands to sunlight.

The
sun did nothing though, no harmful rays burned his skin and he didn't
started smoking. Cautiously he lowered them and looked out around
him. He breathed in the scent of the world around him and smiled
happily.

It
made him feel almost human.

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